Lois (Cannavina) Randall, 79

Lois Rae Cannavina, 79, was born on Aug. 22, 1946, at the Whitefish Hospital to David and Grace Cannavina. Lois’ father was a ranger at Glacier National Park.  

Lois grew up in the Park and attended elementary school at the one-room schoolhouse in West Glacier. Lois graduated from Columbia Falls High School and attended Whitworth College in Spokane. 

She graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree with a teaching certificate. Lois was hired as a biology teacher at Villa Park High School in Orange County, California. At that time, Lois was a 21-year-old teaching 17- and 18-year-old students. In California, Lois bought her first puppy, a Siberian husky and it started a lifelong love affair with pets.  

After one year of teaching, Lois felt the call to come back to Montana. She also wanted to assist her mother in caring for her ailing father. Back in Montana, Lois substitute taught and went to work at the Sportsman and Ski Haus, where she met Byron Randall. Their first date was scuba diving at Echo Lake. On Feb. 2, 1974, Lois and Byron were married at the Presbyterian Church in Kalispell. This was the first and only marriage for Lois and Byron.

Lois went back to school at the University of Montana Biological Station. This education qualified her for a position with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as a fisheries biologist. For the next 10 years, she held the position. Lois then retired to take care of her children and worked part-time at Rocky Mountain Hearing. Lois had many interests, including breeding and raising Siberian huskies and, in later years, golden retrievers, reading, making jewelry, floating the river, volunteering at the City-County Planning Board, and simply loving others. 

Early in their marriage, Byron and Lois accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior and have walked with the Lord ever since. In the early 1980s, the Randalls purchased Rocky Mountain Hearing, which specialized in testing and fitting hearing aids. The Randalls had two children, Serena, born in 1982, who now lives in Helena, works for Boeing, and has a 17-year-old daughter named Grace; and David, born in 1984, who lives in Kalispell, is a deputy Flathead County attorney, and is married to his wife, Melissa. In the later years of their marriage, Lois and Byron were given the opportunity to travel to many parts of the world and fit deaf children with hearing aids, enabling them to hear and learn to speak. 

Lois’ personality attracted people to her. If you were a friend of Lois’ you were blessed to feel her radiant love emanating from her. In grade school, Lois’ nickname was "Queenie." Maybe she acted like a queen. In marriage, Byron delighted in making her feel like a queen. Lois went into the arms of our loving Father on Nov. 26, 2025, after a second open-heart surgery, which she never recovered from. We believe our pets are a gift from God. Lois and our pets are now rejoicing at the Rainbow Bridge.